Primary school accident reporting in one education authority

Developing a comprehensive safety performance evaluation framework for Saudi schools

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to empirically develop a safety performance (SP) framework for evaluating the various leading and lagging indicators of SP in Saudi public schools.

Design/methodology/approach

– A comprehensive review of the safety and performance evaluation literature enabled the formulation of the constructs, factors and items that underpinned a conceptual SP evaluation framework. The research method involved a conceptual framework review and refinement process with 18 experts, followed by a questionnaire survey of 200 respondents from Saudi public schools. The final form of the SP evaluation framework was determined through a rigorous statistical analysis process, including exploratory factor analysis to uncover the underlying framework architecture from a relatively large set of items, and then the application of the partial least squares method to confirm framework adequacy and to assign loading coefficients.

Findings

– The developed SP evaluation framework for Saudi schools included five constructs, namely, safety management and leadership, safety learning and training, safety policy, procedures, and processes, workforce safety culture and SP.

Practical implications

– The developed SP evaluation framework is proposed for implementation by the Saudi Ministry of Education to better monitor and manage school safety in the future.

Originality/value

– This SP evaluation framework is one of the first to holistically evaluate SP in schools, particularly in the Saudi Arabian context.

Accidents in the school environment: perspectives of staff concerned with data collection and reporting procedures

School-accident reports document incidents that have resulted in children requiring assistance from staff in the education and healthcare sectors. This study was undertaken to investigate the collection and use of data by agencies concerned with the school-accident problem. Our aim was to determine if the annual collection and use of such a large body of data might be improved through better management procedures. Interviews were conducted with primary and secondary school staff in one education authority. Interviewees completed a questionnaire on accident activity and accident reporting in their school. In the healthcare sector, staff from the Schools' Office and the ambulance unit servicing the schools provided information on their collection and use of data. Our survey found that accident activity is usually a private matter for individual schools, shared to varying degrees with the education authority. Playgrounds, children's behaviour and footwear carried much of the blame for the injuries sustained. Staff generally accepted the current accident rates. The compilation of accident data by the Schools' Office, accident and emergency department, and ambulance service were compromised by deficiencies in computerization and computer software. The management and utilization of school-accident data could be improved by better collaboration within and between the education and healthcare agencies.